Regions
Vancouver Island.
Confidence
Moderate - No alpine observations.
Travel/Terrain Advice
Avoid wind loaded features and solar aspects in the afternoon. Take note of condition changes through elevation bands. Small loose wet avalanches have the potential for high consequences near terrain traps.
Past Weather
20 - 60 cm of new snow with higher totals on the west coast followed by a clearing western flow.
Avalanche Summary
No natural avalanches were observed. Ski cutting produced several small wind slabs on SW-SE terrain at all elevations on Saturday with crowns of 20 -40 cm deep sliding on the December inversion crust.
Snowpack Description
Surface - Recent low density storm snow up to 60 cm on a variety of old surfaces. This snow has shown signs of moderate bonding to previous layers.
Upper - Cold, dry unconsolidated snow is present on all aspects above 800 m. There is a density change within this snow that has exhibited some weak bonding properties just above the December crust.
Mid - Well settled.
Lower - Well settled.
Weather Forecast
Warm and low winds
Mon - 0-3 mm. Winds light and variable.
Freezing levels of 500-2300 m
Tue - 0-3 mm. Winds light 5-20 km/h from the southeast.
Freezing levels of 1350-2600 m
Wed - 0-3 mm. Winds southeast 12-18 km/h.
Freezing levels of 1300-2500 m
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.